Pew Research Center :: Public Libraries and Hispanics

When it comes to public libraries, immigrant Hispanics
pose both a challenge and an opportunity to the library community. On the one
hand, this group, which makes up half of the adult U.S. Hispanic population, is
less likely than other Americans to have ever visited a U.S. public library and
is much less likely to say that they see it as “very easy” to do so. At the
same time, Hispanic immigrants who have made their way to a public library
stand out as the most appreciative of what libraries have to offer, from free
books to research resources to the fact that libraries tend to offer a quiet,
safe space. And they are more likely than other groups to say that closing
their community library would have a major impact on their family. These are
some of the findings of this latest installment of the Pew Research Center’s
reporting on the Center’s landmark 2013 Library Services Survey.

Seven-in-ten (72%) Latinos ages 16 and older say they
have visited a public library or bookmobile in person at one point or another
in their lives, the survey shows, a share below that of whites (83%) and blacks
(80%). But this finding masks a large difference among Latinos. Fully 83% of
U.S.-born Latinos say they have visited a public library at some point in their
lives—a share similar to that of whites and blacks. However, among immigrant
Latinos, a smaller share—60%—say they have visited a public library or
bookmobile in person.

Some public library services can also be accessed
remotely through library websites. Here, too, though, the survey finds a gap in
use between U.S.-born Latinos (49%), blacks (48%) and whites (45%) who say they
have accessed a public library website and immigrant Latinos (27%) who say the
same.

This gap in use between foreign-born Hispanics and
U.S.-born Hispanics, whites and blacks may reflect foreign-born Hispanics’
views of the relative ease of using public libraries. According to the survey,
just one-third of immigrant Hispanics say they would find it “very easy” to
visit a public library in person if they wanted to do so. By comparison, 60% of
U.S.-born Hispanics, 67% of whites and 59% of blacks say it would be very easy
to visit a public library in person.READ
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